Classifier for fields (economy, culture): nền

Nền goes before a few big, abstract nouns for a whole system that a country or a people builds up over time: nền kinh tế (the economy), nền văn hóa (the culture), nền giáo dục (the education system), nền công nghiệp (industry). The word itself means a base or a foundation, and that's the feeling it gives.

It works like the classifiers you know: it comes straight before the noun, and it can take a number: hai nền kinh tế lớn nhất thế giới, the world's two biggest economies. The country often follows: nền văn hóa Việt Nam.

You'll meet it in the news, in speeches and in school essays. In conversation people mostly leave it out: Kinh tế bây giờ khó khăn quá. The economy's tough right now. Don't add it to every abstract word, either: it belongs with this small set, and a few more such as nền độc lập (independence) and nền hòa bình (peace).

On its own, nền is also a floor or a background: nền nhà (the floor of a house), màu nền (background colour).